These couples waited a (long) while before getting married. They spill what made them finally take the plunge.

"I met Mark when I was nearing 40 and had already decided that I was going to pursue having kids on my own. Once I found the right guy, though, we tried to get pregnant first and postponed marriage. By the time we got engaged, we had two children, and a lot of people were surprised, since we already referred to each other as husband and wife. But I've always been moved by listening to couples proclaim their commitment in front of their loved ones, and I wanted that experience too. Almost nine years after we met, I got it!" --PAMELA FERDINAND, 47, CHICAGO

"We waited 16 years to get married. He's a touring musician and he's gone for months at a time; I was busy advancing my public relations career. But whenever we reunited, it was like we'd just started dating again! A year ago, we suddenly realized we had everything we'd been waiting for, and I walked down the aisle to his band's lead singer playing an acoustic version of U2's "All I Want Is You." We never would have been able to afford our dream wedding 16 years ago, or the house we bought right after." --DENISE KOVALEVICH, 34, KING OF PRUSSIA, PA

"After a year of dating in high school, we went to college in separate cities, then went on to live and work in different states. It was long-distance love for 11 years before we settled together in Chicago and got married. Our separation helped our communication--we started off by talking about everything, and developed a relationship that wasn't just about being physically together. Now we're celebrating two years of marriage and 14 years of being best friends." --CAMILLE EL-AMIN, 30, CHICAGO